Lawmakers Urge Probe Into Lerach Kickback Claims

Law360, New York (May 2, 2008, 12:00 AM EDT) -- Two Republican congressmen have called for a judicial hearing into claims by disgraced trial attorney William Lerach that the multimillion-dollar kickback scam at his founding firm was commonplace among class action lawyers.

In a letter to the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee Friday, Reps. John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Lamar Smith (R-Texas) called for a hearing later this month into allegations Lerach made to the Wall Street Journal that paying clients to serve as lead plaintiffs in securities suits was “industry practice.”